“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.” 1 John 4:18

Last evening my wife and I took our oldest son to his high school orientation evening (I’m that old!). After the initial talk, we went to the student center where all the clubs were represented. I walked by the “leadership” club with my son and asked what it was all about. The first thing the student said was, “we just wanna spread the love”.

Earlier that morning, I didn’t do a very good job of “spreading the love”. I had one of those interactions with my wife that afterward, I wish I could have pushed the rewind button and started over. I will not go into all the details because I don’t care to share with you how lame I really am. But, when my wife asked me a question of how she could support me, I gave her a response that put her on the defense.

After analyzing my response, I came to understand how that response could have made her feel that way. I came to realize that my response was rooted in fear. The Bible tells us that “perfect love casts out fear”. Fear causes us to respond in ways that are not loving. Fear causes us to say things that are the opposite of love because to love is the opposite of fear.

What areas are you responding out of fear rather than love?

Husbands, Wives…Dads, Moms…we need to grow in our love so that our interactions can be loved based rather than fear based. To grow in Love is to grow in Christ, to grow in Christ is to grow in Love!

Fear causes separation, Love brings together

Have a Great Week!